Do We Have a Deal
“It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would
lie if you were in his place.”
--- H. L Mencken
Do we have a deal? It’s the only question that matters and the only
reason for the sales department at any automobile dealership to be open
twelve hours a day, seven days a week. Sell something. Sell Anything.
Just sell.
The competition is fierce between manufacturers, between dealerships
and between salespeople. Everybody is trying to make a living on the back of
the consumer.
Automobile manufacturers are just that, manufacturers. They have to keep the
factories running. To keep the factories running, dealers have to order cars.
For dealers to order cars, salespeople have to sell cars. A lot of things run
down hill. Sales pressure is one of them.
Do We Have a Deal? details three stories of how cars get sold, but five cars are sold.
These five sales are representative of the hundreds of variations of the theme.
The stories explain why people hate buying cars.
In a quiet Midwest dealership the weekend starts on Friday morning with the weekly
sales meeting. This meeting sets the mood for the weekend and, in theory, is
supposed to create a “sales fever’ within the sales force. The reality is much
different. The sales meeting is something the buyer does not participate in,
yet it is performed for his benefit.
As the day progresses the dealership personnel go about their business as do
the town folk. Four couples and two single people decide to buy a car this weekend.
A recently divorced woman bought a car on Thursday, but adjusts the terms on Friday
night. The others all arrive at the dealership around the same time on Saturday.
One of the couples knows what they want. The other couples know what they can afford.
The single young man can afford whatever he wants, but he doesn’t know what that is.
Buy Do We Have a Deal Now